Hi everybody. It's Anne Duffy and welcome to the Just DeW It podcast. I'm so happy that you're with me today and I'm really excited about my new dear friend that I have on our podcast today. But I want to tell you a little bit about her before we get started. Deanna Otts-Whitfield is a Marine Corps veteran and dental professional with over 16 years of experience in hygiene, infection prevention and compliance.
Anne: She holds a Bachelor's in Dental Hygiene, a master's in Healthcare quality and safety, and is C-D-I-P-C certified. I will let you know what that means in just a minute. As a consultant. Speaker and published author, Deanna empowers dental teams With practical strategies to enhance safety and compliance.
She actively serves on professional boards and is passionate about elevating patient care across the industry. Welcome, Deanna. How are you?
Deanna: I'm wonderful. Thank you, Anne, for having me this morning. I'm so excited to be here.
Anne: Well, a couple things. First of all, thanks for wearing your due necklace. I can see that on there.
And I'm,thrilled that you were wearing that. We gave that to everybody. at our last retreat, and you and I met at Vanessa Emerson's, course last year or the year before? Last year.
Deanna: Before last.
Anne: Yeah,
Deanna: year before. Last
Anne: year. Before last. And you were just an Energizer bunny.
Didn't hardly know anybody in our little circle there. And now look at you. You are carving out your life, your work. You're on fire, you're working with Amy Wood and just, you know, it's just so cool to see you grow as a young, vibrant, driven woman in dentistry. So, you know, welcome.
It's about time we get you on the podcast.
Deanna: I'll say I'm very blessed. I've been inafforded a wonderful opportunity, many opportunities to, first off meet you a couple years ago and just different women in the community that have helped get me to this position where I'm at right now.
So here we are today on your podcast and I'm so excited to talk more.
Anne: Oh, that's so great. I know. And thank you for shouting out to the dos out there because you know, I know you're coming to the retreat in November, which I'm all excited. And you were there last year. That's right. Yes. So it's so funny.
We always tell everybody the first thing you need to do is join, but most importantly, you need to show up because you know how you,you can join something and never get anything out of it. But I mean, we are here to help you, grow your career and all of those things. But first of all, as I hinted to our audience, what does C-D-I-P-C stand for?
Deanna: It's my certification in dental infection prevention and control. It's from, the Association for Dental Safety. So I have a infection control certificate saying that I know all about dirty things and I can help you prevent from getting sick in your patients from getting sick as well.
Anne: Wow, it's so important. Oh my gosh. Just to even kick this off, we never know where it's going, but I remember, it was my third state board that I took in Florida and I was working for a set of periodontists. There were four of 'em, and Frank Scott was the.
Founder of Periodontology in the southeast. I mean, I learned everything I know about dental hygiene in that practice. I was there for five years and it was just amazing. So much. So I had to, assist for six months before I could even do hygiene. And I had three years experience in dental hygiene.
Right. But anyway, our office manager and I just loved him but he died of, hepatitis. he got hepatitis in the office and back then they didn't have the treatments they have today. I'll just never forget that. It was just so bizarre to me.
of course, if, you know how long I've been practicing, no gloves, no mask. we did put things in the oven, for sterilization. But when I think of how far dentistry has come how many lives we've saved by having someone like you that knows what they're doing Really teaching dental offices around the country and the world on how to be safe and, keep people alive and healthy. So thank you for diving in I'm just really proud. And then also, one thing I wanted to mention, you said you have your master's in healthcare quality and safety, which is just cool, and I didn't know that about you.
That's cool. So those are some chops, Sienna. So tell us a little bit, you said something that was interesting about the course that you took for that Yeah. To get your master's.
Deanna: Yeah, so I went to a university down in southeast Texas, same Houston state, and go bear cats. And I was really interested in public health and at that time they did not have a public health degree.
So I entered into this program and its executive master's degree and my professor at the time had never had a dental professional. I was in the same cohort as, a pharmacist, several nurses with. Multiple master's degree and then a,dental professional. And he had no idea what to do with me. He had never, didn't know how to steer me in the next direction of my career.
So we worked together to kind of figure out how I was gonna create this thesis and present on this material that was related to the dental industry. And I think he learned a lot too from me and,and, you know, maybe can use that for his future students. So it was very interesting.
Anne: That is really cool. And you know, also, I'm really proud of you to pave your way in dentistry because it's not like there was a, straight career path from that program to dentistry.
Correct. And I mean, I, I'm hoping if you're listening to this, that, you know, being an expert, I'm so glad that you're speaking now. To bring all that from medical into dental is just it's very impressive. Deanna. I'm, very impressed. 'cause that stuff is boring. It's, and you, you're just a light bulb.
It's,and I mean, you can make it really interesting, fun and memorable, for the teams that you're teaching. So congratulations on, on taking that, step and not being afraid of, being the first one in that program. That's just super neat. There'll be more to follow, but I've got a couple questions for you.
And number one would be, what's a common safety or compliance mistake you see in dental practices that could be almost fixed instantly.
Deanna: Personal protective equipment. PPE, we take it for granted. Because we wear this stuff all the time. We've gotta put on the lab jacket, we gotta put on the mask, we gotta put on the gloves.
But there's so many dental healthcare professionals that do not utilize it properly. A lot of them don't even cover up their scrubs. They assume that their scrubs are personal protective equipment, and that's not the case. Their scrubs need to be covered up.
they wear their mask at the bottom of their chin. It's awful. And there's this big talk right now how dental healthcare, especially hygienists, wanna be seen more as healthcare professionals. Well, we have got to adhere to these guidelines better. If we want to be seen as professionals, especially healthcare workers, then we need to adhere to these protocols so that scene that we are putting out there, that presence, people can notice us.
As a higher professional level than what we're already recognized as teeth cleaners, or, lesser than the healthcare medical industry. So, PPE is a really easy one that can be fixed.
Anne: Well, wait a minute. go back a bit. So you're saying that when you have your mask on and you pull it down.
Which I, I'm, I'm not practicing anymore. The last, five
years, I guess. Well, we,
Deanna: we know now what we know now. We're creating a lot of these aerosols right from our water, from saliva, from our patients, and our,our mask is catching the grunt of it all.
Anne: Yeah,
Deanna: so when you pulled around your chin, then you're contaminating your chin.
And think about when you leave the office, at the end of the day, you wash your hands and your wrist, but are you washing your neck and your chin? Then you go to the, the daycare pick up your kids and hug them and take them home and soccer practice. Then you hug your spouse at home and you have all this stuff on your chin.
Wow. Yikes.
Anne: Something to think about. Thank you. Where were you? Where were you When I was practicing. Okay. So that's a tip. And that is scary. Isn't that interesting? be honest, it's common
Deanna: sense. It's common sense.It's common sense. I'm not preaching anything new, but maybe I'm just saying it a little bit different than others have and bringing awareness in a different way.
Anne: So, I, I know I'm, I'm gonna dive deeper into this. So, it's like, if you've got your mask on and then you're turning around, you wanna talk to your patient, do you take your mask off and have you set it here, or do you throw it in the trash and get a new mask?
Deanna: if you're done with that mask, throw it away.
But you know, don't put it around your chin. If you're done with it and you're talking to a patient, take it off. You know, if you need to put it back on for that same patient, that's fine. But don't pull around your chin and then walk around the office, grab a snack out of the kitchen, run to the restroom.
Anne: when you think about all the things that I didn't do these years. I'm really glad I'm alive here. People, I am really glad I am alive.
Deanna: Right. Wow.
Anne: Okay. So that's a, That's a great tip. question number two.
How did you get into the intersection of dental hygiene, workplace safety and compliance, and what's. Kept you passionate about that. Which again, I wanna go back to you were in the Marine Corps first. One of your top strengths is consistency. Yeah. And this kind of lends itself to all of those things. so why, how did you do this?
what drove you to this intersection?
Deanna: Well, you know, I went back for our masters 'cause I was bored and I really was bored. Okay. Dental hygiene. I felt like there was something bigger for me out there and just like you're, you know, flipping through, movies and series on Netflix.
Netflix, you just kind of stumble upon something. And so I had met a colleague, um, she's located in Kentucky and she knew of this gentleman down in Texas that had a compliance company. And I thought, you know what? I'm a rule follower. I am a former Marine, I'm a combat vet. I can follow rules and I can teach others how to follow rules safely.
So I fell into the compliance. Sector and I remembered how much I like infection control. 'cause it's all protocol, right? You do this in certain steps, you follow this and I am very by the book. Now I speed on the highway, so I'm not everything by the book, but I'm very by the book. And I do, you know, I follow sticky notes and I have rules and,manuals and IFUs everywhere, and I thought, you know, if we can just, share this information that we want to learn in hygiene school or dental school, assisting school, and get the word out that it's.
Still important. These are like the fundamental things you need as a clinician to practice safely for yourself, for your coworkers, for your families, for your patients. The fundamentals is where it's all at. So I fell in love with compliance, regurgitating this information that's not new, really, honestly, and just teaching it in a way that you know will make others feel passionate about protecting themselves.
Anne: Yeah, I, I could see that you would come into especially like A DSO that has like, 50 offices or something. Like you would be able to really, you know, hit at home and come in with some, expertise and the energy and the, passion that you have. So, you know, good for you.
I do think That we do take advantage of that, it's very important. But there are some things that we have left, behind that are important. So good for you. I guess. You get so excited. You just look like a Christmas tree.
I get so excited. Most people are like, so, yeah. Yeah. So that's really great because, you know,when they come into the office, it's like, oh, well here we go. We,and you know what, we always think we know everything. That's right. We think we know everything. And I just learned something new today, so there's lots more I know in that head of yours and your toolbox that you have because it is common sense and some of it hasn't changed, but some of it is changing.
And I mean the world that we live in, new protocols, new techniques, all of that, you have to really be on top of it. That's right. but I mean, if you could make one change to how dental offices approach training. What would it be and why? And you're the best person to ask this 'cause you're in a lot of offices and you've done a ton of training.
Deanna: Fortunately because I do have clinical experience as a dental hygienist, I'm not just someone off the streets. So. I have clinical scenarios that we can throw in there into this team training and make it fun. Because you're right, it's very elementary, it's very basic. It can be very boring, but if we can interact somehow as the team.
Team and train together and learn new protocols that work best for your office. 'cause not every office is designed the same. Mm-hmm. Not every office is gonna see the same patient population. But you know, with a little bit of my clinical experience and my little bit of compliance experience, we can come in and do team training a different way, run through scenarios, actually use the equipment in the practice and use your certain protocols that you've developed for your team as opposed to just.
PowerPoint presentation, slide. Statistics. Mm-hmm. Statistic.Because it can be really boring and redundant. Like I said, you know, we've all learned this at some capacity in, in our school, in our training, but just bring and shedding a new light to it. maybe turning into a game of some sort.
Mm-hmm. Get everyone and excited and involved, you know, 'cause. It's not always fun. Yeah. Well that it's necessary.
Anne: It's necessary. And I think that's the new wave of adult learning too, is like have the workshop. Everybody then leaves with a story. And the story will stick in your mind mm-hmm. On how this will work.
I, you know, there's just so many opportunities I think that people could share also about close calls and, you know, thank God I got the training, or thank God you know, I learned this little trick and mm-hmm. That really does help. Stick it in your mind and really move forward as a routine and a consistent routine.
Right, and a consistent routine. Yeah,
Deanna: that's right.
Anne:
Deanna: Because if you do things a certain way, the way that it's designed to be done. It's based off, evidence, scientific research. Mm-hmm. So if we do things the right way, then our patients are gonna be safe. We're gonna be safe, we can go home to our families safe.
And that's really what it's all about.
Anne: Yeah. And I also think, you know, the dentist out there, especially the leaders of the,office, the team, the business. we're all looking to them to lead. Right. And so they're really the most important tier there.
Like if they're not doing it properly, and oh my gosh, I can't tell you how many times I've seen my doc come in with his. I know it mask down here and yeah. There's just a lot of nuances there that, you just really need to pay attention to. and guess what the mm-hmm. Patients are paying attention to, attention to.
patients are
Deanna: smarter now than they ever have been. Yeah. They've got the world at their fingertips just like we do. And so they see things that should be done the right way, and they see how we're doing certain things if it's the wrong way and.You know, it's all about presence and being able to put agood side out there, you know?
Yeah. A good example.
Anne: Yeah. Perception's, 99% of it. So if you're perceived as not being, really follow every health, that's right. Rule out there, you know, you're gonna not be able to build a practice that's gonna be sound and safe and or a team, so I, you know, I'm also curious, like, what did you go in the Marines for, like right after high school?
what
Deanna: happened? I did.
I did right after high school, right after I graduated, about three weeks after, I joined the Marine Corps and it was in 2000. So it was during peace time and then, a year later, September 11th happened, and boom, we're going to war. It didn't happen that quickly, But yeah, I did spend time overseas, went to Iraq, did a tour, and by the time I was done with that and came back home, my four years were, up and I decided that I wanted to get out and actually go to university and, and get a degree and I.
you can do that while you're a service member but it's hard to do it full time, especially during war time. And I, I just wasn't afforded that opportunity andgetting a college degree was really my main goal of going into the military.
Anne: Well, I'm so proud of you. I mean, again, if you've got kids that don't know what to do, I mean,did you have a good experience there?
Deanna: Absolutely. I had a wonderful experience. My last unit that I was in, I was the only female of 82 men.
Anne: Oh my gosh. I
Deanna: was seen as the big sister. You know, by that time I was a higher rank than most of them, and so I was seen as a big. Sister, I was protected. I was included. So it was a very good experience.
I can't say that for every single woman. I mean, there's all sorts of different conditions that happen while you're in and you're a woman, and I'm not, I'm saying I'm immune to any of that because that all happened to me as well. but I knew how to handle myself and I'm proud of that. And so I came out on the other side a better person for sure.
Anne: Oh, that's wonderful to hear. you know, I didn't have anybody in my family that served and I,I'm always amazed at how, you've been drawn to that, but I think also you've always been a leader, and so that just upped yourleadership skills, communication skills, and then now you're doing something really lends itself to your strengths, which is,beautiful going forward.
Where do you see this going in the next maybe five years? Because, you know, it has been a big deal since COVID. because everybody's more aware of. Infection and, diseases. Where do you see your role going in dentistry?
Deanna: I wanna continue to, you know, help that small practice that needs a little bit of extra reassurance a little extra care.
But I also think that we need to get into these bigger organizations. I see a shift in dentistry, kind of like the medical shift was back in the eighties and early nineties, where it went from theprivate. Healthcare to, more hospital-based group practices. And, you know, we're seeing a big shift in DSOs come along in dentistry.
So I,would like to see that DSOs are hiring compliance leaders in their organizations and that they're getting the monitoring and the training that they need. At that level. I would even love to be a part of that at some point. But, further down the road, we wanna make sure that, technology's changing and getting better.
our equipment's getting stronger. We've got to maintain some sense. Of balance. Mm-hmm. You know? Mm-hmm. Our government has a big hand in the way, the CDC is, acting right now. So I think if we just stay on top of what we know is right and real and keep reinforcing that and practicing those methods and protocols and our practices, that we will continue to be a very, very safe industry.
and keep people from getting sick.
Anne: Yeah. Or,or worse, right. I mean it's just, or worse, um, you know, compromising the dental health that you're trying to give them. Right. Right. That's just an incredible,okay, so how do we get in touch with you? Because I know there's some people that I.Maybe some hygienists that are listening or,team members are listening and,they wanna go the route that you went because they like that kind of thing. And then also there might be somebody out there that says, I need your help. And I wanna have somebody come in that's gonna teach us.
have fun and make it stick. Because that's something you have to have every year though. Isn't that correct? Don't you? Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. OSHA and
Deanna: training.
Anne: Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. That has to become every year, and you just check that box you just don't want everyone to show up because they have to and you, you don't learn that way.
you really have to be able to,dive in, and figure out how to, be able to recall those. Pearls, if you will, pearls on a regular basis. Yeah. So how do we get in touch with you? Danna it. We'll be in the show notes, but tell our listeners reach.
Deanna: Yes. So reach out.
So you can find me. Copper penny Me and my boss, Amy Wood, are both on there. We're both public speakers, so you can find our speaker packet, all that on there. Also, my Instagram is Deanna, RDH, and then Facebook is Deanna Otts-Whitfield.
Anne: And it's so good to see you here today.
And Deanna, I will see you in a couple of weeks. I can't wait. We'll see. You give Amy Wood a big hug for us from DDW and, love you all, most importantly out there.
Everybody remember to keep doing you. Thank you, Deanna Otts-Whitfield, I'll see you on the road.
Deanna: Bye
